Home Is Where The Heart Is
by Pearlinprocess
Summary: Sequel to "That Which Warms the Frozen Heart". Cedric has been in a bit of a funk since getting back from his trip to Arendelle and meeting his biological mother. No one really notices since that's how he usually is. But one person does notice... Platonic little chit-chat between Cedric and Sofia, mostly Fluff. Please review!


Cedric had been deeply affected by his trip to Arendelle, but not really visibly so. He had been extra irritable since the minute he stepped off the boat, and had been avoiding people even more than he usually did. But since that was his normal behavior anyways, and almost everyone else tended to avoid Cedric as much as possible as well, no one really noticed or brought it up at first.

Only one person did notice. One person especially had been waiting for his return to Enchancia. One person was watching as he frowned and sighed dramatically and shuffled around - Again, not unlike his usual behavior, but she could tell that it was different now than it had been before, and she had a good idea why.

So one sunny afternoon, she stole away to the shadier side of the castle where the sorcerer went about his private studies, and knocked on the tall, wooden door to his quarters. At first he didn't answer, pretending not to be there. But the princess was politely insistent, and finally Cedric sighed and got up to answer the door. He glared down at her as he realized who it was. "Princess Sofia. To what do I owe this... Pleasure?" The way he said the last word, it was almost as if it literally tasted bad to him.

The child directed a brilliant smile up at his grouchy face. "Oh, I just wanted to see how you've been doing! I haven't gotten the chance to see you since you got back from Arendelle. Have you been well, Mr. Cedric?"

Again he sighed in suffering, and stepped aside for her to come in. "Yes, I've been as well as ever, I suppose..." He answered, not very convincingly.

"Oh..." She replied, picking up on his tone right away, but not mentioning it just yet. Instead she inquired, "Well, how was the trip?"

He knew she wouldn't go away unless he indulged her first, so he concocted up a short tale and recited it almost robotically compared to his usual standards, "Oh, it was very scenic~ Ice-capped mountain-tops overlooking the town, the gently rocking fjord and the boats with their intricate engravings of mermaids and dragons, and all that..."

But the Princess wasn't satisfied with his recollection, and her memory wasn't as short as Cedric was hoping, either. "What about your biological mother? Did you get to see her after all?"

Cedric paused for a few seconds, then frowned and looked away from her, pretending to be looking for a certain book on his shelf, so he didn't have to meet her eyes. "I'm... Not really sure how best to say this, your highness, but I think you may be too young for me to discuss such things with you..."

"Too young?" Her highness pouted and put her hands on her hips, clearly offended and more so than Cedric would have expected. "Mr. Cedric, for one thing, I am not -that- young anymore. Perhaps you're old enough to not notice when a few years have gone by, but I'm not. Just how old do you think I am, for that matter?"

Put on the spot with an angry royal glaring at him (Sweet Sofia was much more imposing when she was angry, which was still rare, but seemed to be happening a little more frequently recently...) Cedric had no choice but to provide the answer she demanded, albeit in a stammer. "U-Uh, um - T-T-Ten?" He guessed genuinely.

She princess rolled her eyes, but then she grinned and giggled, to Cedric's immediate relief. "Silly Cedric! In only a couple more months, I'm going to be -thirteen-!"

"So you're twelve." Cedric deadpanned after her, regaining his composure and trying to retreat back to his books. "I was close enough..."

"Not really!" Sofia was miffed again, but determined to prove her point. "I'm -almost- thirteen! And in case you also forgot, my Mother gave birth just last year, to my adorable baby brother Prince Julian! And when she was giving birth, I was the only one she wanted in the room besides Dad and the Midwife. SO," She concluded with a petulant pout and blush. "I already know about things like that! I know where babies come from! I knew it quite a while before that, so you don't have to side-step around that issue because you think I'm some ignorant child!"

Cedric could not bring himself to face her at all after that, and finally just took out a random spellbook and shoved his burning red face into it.

Sofia gave him a few seconds of silence before prodding him, "Well, if you really don't want to talk about it, you of course don't have to. But you know I would never tell a soul if you DID tell me anything, right...?"

He still avoided her eyes, and kept his back turned from her, silent for a long moment after that. Finally he relented, "Princess Sofia... What else can I say, that I'm sure you haven't already put together for yourself? My mother... Sarah, was a woman on hard times. I was better off being raised by Goodwin and Winifred. End of story." He announced bluntly.

"You mother's name was Sarah? What a pretty name!" She exclaimed, only to get a doubtful look from him. He couldn't help but think Sarah was a rather plain name, at least compared to Sofia. But the Princess insisted, "No really, I think it's pretty! But I'm so sorry to hear about her circumstances..."

"Yeah..." Cedric agreed gloomily, his eyes distant for a moment.

Sofia clasped her hands and glanced at him sadly, "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it, Mr. Cedric?"

He sighed and stayed quiet for a moment, but then he started to speak. He told her more about his mother, where she'd come from and what she'd been through. He only spared her the worst details. But otherwise, he was more honest with her than he'd ever been before. She listened to him patiently, and with empathetic eyes, and when he was done with his true tale, she commented, "It's so sad that she had to live like that for so long... But I'm so glad you were able to help her out, Mr. Cedric. You know - You're a great sorcerer, but you're an even better son."

Cedric gave her a warmed, heartfelt smile. "You're much too kind, your highness... Truly." He looked up again, his eyes now more focused, on her. "To be honest, I'm really not worthy of your kindness. Of any of the kindness shown to me over the years. You see, I've realized something. I used to have such dreams of grandeur... A desire for much more than what I have. But I don't even deserve what I do have. It's by pure chance that I am what I am, that I was raised where I was, and by who. I'm beginning to believe that if I keep chasing after what I think will make my happy, I'll probably never be happy..." Not to mention, if he actually ever did try to take over Enchancia, the king's army would mow him down in a heartbeat.

That was also not mentioning how awful and ill-conceived his former plans had always been, in hindsight. Goodness, what had he been thinking with that invisibility nonsense? Yes Cedric, make yourself invisible in front of the king, then swipe his daughter's amulet right in front of him. No one would suspect the only man that they knew was currently invisible.

Sofia blinked openly, and Cedric almost felt like groaning - All that was probably a bit much for the princess. But she piped up before he could recant, "Well, I suppose the most obvious advice I could give you is to follow your heart..."

Cedric couldn't resist the urge to openly roll his eyes at that. The princess, however, went on without a care for his input, "But I know that's not always as easily done as said. Especially with you, Mr. Cedric, because you have an unfortunate habit of underestimating yourself. It's even more unfortunate that you picked this habit up from other people underestimating you. I think, because of how some people have been unnecessarily harsh with you, your heart has become confused. I don't want you to think that you don't deserve to chase your dreams just because you've made mistakes in the past. And I flat-out refuse to accept that you don't deserve to because you were adopted, or because your birth-mother went through poor circumstances."

The sorcerer had stopped rolling his eyes and was now staring at the child, who went on, "Things were pretty tough for a while after my biological father, Julian, died... My mom's shoemaking business did well enough, but to be honest, my father was the 'breadwinner'. Literally, since he was a baker. People need bread more often than they need shoes, you see, and even though my mother is a pretty good baker herself, Dad was the best. Sometimes I can still taste the -exact- orange, maple cinnamon buns he used to make every Sunday. But my mom wasn't able to keep the bakery after a while, it was too much for her trying to run both businesses by herself, though she still tried. We were doing alright... Just not as well as before Dad died. It's true that King Roland provided me with financial stability, and riches I never would have dreamed of, but he gave me something much more important than that. He gave me a father again."

Cedric realized he'd been staring when Sofia suddenly glanced up and caught his eyes with hers, then he promptly looked away. He wondered, but he didn't ask the girl how her father had died. He wouldn't put her through the memory unless she wanted to bring it up. A wise decision, as she had purposefully avoided that memory herself, and didn't wish to bring it up either.

Instead she carried on, "There are some people who might say I don't deserve what I have, either. And some of them might even be right. I'm not a naive child. I know that there are some places like Enchancia, where people get along, and help one another. But that there are other places where, for all kind of strange reasons, they just... Don't. I wish everyone in the world could at least know contentment, but sadly, so many people in this world..."

It was beginning to unnerve Cedric, seeing the normally cheery Sofia in such a funk, and he finally intervened, "Please Princess, don't dwell any more on such things..."

She shook her head, but she also gave him a big, warm smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you, Mister Cedric. I just meant to say, since we're both lucky enough to have the lives we do, no matter how we got here or from where... We should do our best and follow our dreams, for the sake of those that never got the chances we have... I know you're truly talented Mister Cedric, so please, keep following your heart, and don't give up on your dreams."

He was staring again, he realized after a few seconds, and when he finally decided on what he was going to say next, he shyly turned his back to the Princess as he replied, "Thank you, your majesty... But maybe, sometimes... Dreams aren't always meant to come true." He went on quickly before Sofia could deny his last statement, "Sometimes the first dreams we dream, aren't the best dreams we could have come up with yet. Sometimes new dreams make it impossible to keep dreaming old dreams, and it's ultimately for the better..."

He admittedly couldn't help but glance back at her, specifically her amulet for just a brief second. A blessing or curse... Sofia was a blessing of a person, to the whole kingdom - No, to the entire human race. It was obviously best left in her possession. So he quickly glanced back up to her eyes as he continued, "But, Princesss Sofia... You should follow whatever your dreams are. I believe in your dreams. Even though you're a lot younger than me and most other people, in a lot of ways, you're much wiser..."

Sofia blushed right away at the compliment, and modestly tried to deny it, "Oh, that's so, surprisingly kind of you Mister Cedric! But I'm not -that- wise, I get my spells wrong all the time-"

Cedric interrupted, "So what? So do I. Besides, I wasn't talking about being book-smart or good with magic. Your wisdom is a different sort. You know how to be kind to and care about people, even if they don't always really deserve it..."

Before she could protest that he was indeed deserving of such kindnesses, he shocked her into continued silence as he suddenly knelt down on one knee and bowed his head to her. "Someday, you'll be the kind of leader I would be honored to stand beside..."

He was right. Young though the girl was, she could tell the man before her had gone through an important change of heart. Wanting to show him how proud she was, she suddenly reached over on a whim and took one of his wands from the pile, a purple one with gold bands, and tapped on one of his shoulders, and then the other, as she announced, "I hereby unofficially knight you Sir Cedric, my royal advice-giver, but more importantly, my very best friend!"

His eyes were wide again, even more so when she reached in and gave him a very quick hug, before pulling away just as suddenly, and bounding away to the door. She looked back one before retreating completely, giggling a little at the redness in Cedric's cheeks. "Goodnight, Mister Cedric! We're all glad to have you back home!"

He stared for several seconds after she had closed the door behind her, before finally smiling to himself. "Goodnight Princess Sofia..." He murmured, even though she couldn't hear him.

Then he went back to his writing desk, and predictably, his raven screeched and squawked at him in displeasure. Cedric waved him off, "Now, now. Don't get your feathers ruffled the wrong way, Wormy. I have a feeling we have much bigger and better things in store for our future. But as for now... Well, what's a better way to come up with a new dream, than to have a little nap?" He giggled a bit at his own joke, then sighed in contentment as he went off to do just that.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO


End file.
